-Lu Wan. -Yeah?
How much food do we have?
Not much left.
All right. Guys!
Guys, listen up! Listen up!
Before we find a place to live, let’s take all the food we have…
and give it to Lu Wan to ration out.
Hey! Why should he control it?
You shut up! Do it now!
Give me all of your food!
Get up!
Move!
Let’s get moving!
Where are we now?
Mount Mangdang.
Move on.
It is a good place for us.
Right?
I think we should settle down here.
Look, the road to this place is very rugged.
It’s safe here.
Right. Ji, there is fresh water here.
Yes, I think this place can bring us good fortune.
-It looks like a place for hidden talents. -Look, how clean the water is.
Guys...
let’s take a break now.
And then we shall get some twigs and put up a straw mat shed.
Here will be our new Sishuiting.
I am still the chief of Sishuiting.
I agree.
-I agree. -Well, let’s find twigs to put up a shed.
To find the immortality elixir, and to preserve his empire...
the emperor set out on his last tour to the east.
Your Grace, may I remove your hairpiece…
and comb your hair for you?
Emperor, a message for you.
No visitors!
The ambassador from Penglai brings a pill.
Hurry! Bring it inside!
Yes.
Hurry!
Relax, relax.
Just drink this.
Zhao Gao.
Your Grace.
I am dying.
Your Grace, you won't die.
You will live for a hundred years, you’ll live forever.
You will live with the sun and the moon. You will live with Heaven and Earth.
Emperor, let’s go back to Xianyang.
Help me write an edict.
Yes.
I order Fusu…
to return to Xianyang...
to... take...
the throne.
Emperor... Don’t do that.
Loosen your hand,
Emperor.
Emperor, please loosen your grip.
Emperor…
My God!
In 211 B.C.
Qin Shi Huang united China, and during his reign,
he grew the empire,
and laid the foundation of its government for the next 2000 years.
He standardized weights, measures, the currency, and the script.
He attacked the Huns and conquered Yue.
He built the Great Wall, burned books and buried scholars alive.
He feared death and desperately sought the elixir of immortality.
He died on his tour to the east.
Where did you hide your food?
It’s right under this tree.
Yong Chi, let’s take it and leave here together.
Why should we?
If we stay here, we’ll die of hunger soon.
Among the men here, I only admire you.
Only you dare stand up to Liu Ji.
If we leave the mountain and officials catch us,
we will also be killed.
Then we can report them to atone for our crimes.
You son of bitch! You hid your food, and you plan on snitching on us.
-What kind of a person are you? -Don’t, don’t, don’t... Yong Chi,
if you don’t want to come, I’ll give you half my food.
Just let me go.
Leave!
You…
Yong Chi!
You killed this man!
You really killed him.
Over a little food, you killed the man!
He was one of us!
-Ji. -What happened?
He killed one of our men!
What?
Is what he says true?
Why kill him?
Because that worm...
hid his food for himself.
He wanted to leave the mountain,
and report us to the officials.
So I killed him.
He’s lying!
Ji, he’s lying! You killed him for the food!
Repeat what you just said.
One of the men here hid his food for himself.
He advised me to leave the mountain with him.
He wanted to report us to the officials.
So, to keep us all safe, I killed him.
The food, I was hungry. Why couldn’t I eat it?
I trust what you say.
Let him go!
Ji! Ji!
Release him?
What? What?
We don’t know what happened!
We didn’t see anything!
Nothing!
Good.
You have seen nothing amiss...
and heard nothing strange.
From now on,
you will do as you always do.
Don’t let anyone suspect anything.
If this information gets out...
I will have both of you killed.
Yes, yes, understood.
How did our late king cough?
Good. Quite good.
Cough like that every now and again.
-Understood. -Understood.
Both of you are dismissed.
-Yes. -Yes.
Stop! Bring food!
Premier.
Careful! Be careful!
Soup of deer’s tail. Enter.
Braised abalone and seafood soup.
Enter.
Premier, my father wants deer tail soup?
It seems to me that he’s very healthy!
But prince, have you noticed a rather strange odor?
Oh. I have a cold right now. My nose is stuffed up.
I can’t smell anything. Something wrong?
Right.
The emperor ate half the deer tail,
a sea cucumber, and half the soup.
It’s great. He has a big appetite now.
Long live the emperor!
Premier, the emperor asks you,
where we are at this time.
Emperor, we are in Shaqiu.
Oh! Shaqiu!
Your Grace, we are in Shaqiu now.
The emperor said that we all have had a hard day,
so we shall camp here tonight.
Yes.
Cao Wushang? Cao Wushang? Drink some water.
Water alone won’t save him.
What’s the matter with him?
He is too hungry.
If we had some meat, I think we could save his life.
Meat?
Fan Kuai. Fan Kuai.
Fine. I’ll get it.
Huzi?
Ji…
Huzi?
-Ji… -Yes?
Ji, don’t look for Huzi.
Huzi was slaughtered by Fan Kuai.
Ji. Ji.
Cao Wushang… Cao Wushang is starving.
Fan Kuai butchered Huzi for meat.
Fan Kuai didn’t touch the meat.
Is Cao Wushang any better?
A little.
I’ll go have a look.
Your Grace…
Now you’re nothing but a dead husk.
You were looking for your elixir,
while you were building your mausoleum.
It’s ridiculous.
But now your eyes are closed,
and there’s no breath left in you.
And this liquor in front of you,
this wine will be drunk by me instead.
I am nothing but a bug compared to you,
but I can still drink.
And even though you are the ruler of an empire,
you’re dead and rotting!
I can live however I want to now,
but without you,
how can I live on?
Your Grace, didn’t you find the fairy isle,
and take the longevity pills?
Why don’t you wake up now?
Open your eyes! Don’t sleep anymore!
Come back to life, can’t you do that?
This is your final edict.
By heaven’s will and my decree,
I order Fusu...
to return to Xianyang… to return to Xianyang…
to take the throne.
This was your final edict.
These words are the last ones
you left to the country, the people, and all your ministers.
But this is... it’s too much for me!
Don’t you know...
Fusu may kill me when he comes back?
Even in death, you won’t let go of me?
You forced me to do awful things,
and even in death, you won’t let go of me!
Your Grace, open your eyes and look at this.
This is the world you fought for all your life,
now...
it is in my hands alone.
So today I, Zhao Gao,
a lowly eunuch,
will live the life for you…
for a few more days!
Premier, you’re finally here. Quick, go inside!
But Prince, for what…
would the emperor call us here so late at night?
I’m not sure either.
Zhao Gao also sent the word to me.
Have you seen the emperor?
I haven’t.
Zhao Gao told me that when you get here, we can see His Grace.
Oh. I see you’re both here. Come inside the chariot.
My respects to you, Father. May you live ten thousand years.
All right, get up, boy. The emperor can’t hear you now.
What?
The premier is right.
That’s right,
he passed away days ago.
Father! Father!
Zhao Gao, what are you doing?
My prince, you mustn’t cry at this time.
We can’t… we can’t let anyone know the news.
But why? You mean to stop mourning?
Yes. You are a wise man.
There can be no mourning now. We have to keep this secret.
Why?
The emperor’s death will bring enormous changes.
We must settle something,
before the world is informed of this.
So what must we settle?
Think about it, who will take his place? Who takes the throne?
The emperor has over twenty sons.
So who will take over?
Who should be the next emperor?
Did he not make arrangements?
He made arrangements.
Just before he passed away,
he issued an edict, and had me write it.
Here it is. Premier, you can read it now.
Prince Huhai should read it first.
Oh, all right.
My Prince, read it to us.
Prince, don’t worry about what is written there.
Don’t panic about it.
I am here to help you with it, yes?
What does it say?
He still trusts my brother more than me.
Since it’s the emperor’s last edict,
the secretariat should issue it immediately.
Should it be issued?
My Prince, do you think I should issue this edict?
Then…
then issue it.
That…
is quite simple.
But you should consider this carefully.
Once we issue it,
there is no taking the edict back.
And just what do you mean by that?
Why, Premier Li Si,
think very hard now.
General Meng Tian will certainly come back to us with Fusu.
General Meng Tian has always despised you.
And if he gains power,
you will not remain a premier for long.
Don’t you ever forget,
many years ago when the emperor,
deposed Premier Wang and appointed you premier,
General Meng Tian strongly opposed it.
At the time...
-I-- -Shut up!
I don’t want to hear all this!
Zhao Gao, listen to me,
this is the emperor’s edict!
Zhao Gao, it’s the emperor’s order.
We can only obey.
We have no other choice.
Of course, there are other choices.
We... We can take this edict and hide it,
or even just burn it!
Then we can ask for another edict,
ordering Fusu to stay away, or to end his own life,
and ordering Huhai to take the throne.
Premier Li Si and I will help you.
You’ll only need to do as we tell you.
That’s another choice.
The gall!
Zhao Gao, my father is dead now.
How can he write the edict?
He used to dictate the edicts,
and I wrote them down for him.
So I can write another edict now.
But the seal?
On the edict, there needs to be a seal!
You both forget,
I’m also the royal seal keeper.
The seal is also in my hands.
It’s wrong! We can’t do this! Absolutely no!
I swear now, I will never let you do such a thing!
Appalling treachery! It’s appalling!
It’s the most appalling treachery!
All right...
then I can obey the emperor’s edict.
But, Li Si, be certain of your choice.
When General Meng Tian comes to power and he comes for you, don’t regret it!
And you, my prince.
The emperor has over twenty sons.
This is your one and only chance to be emperor.
This is the only opportunity you’ll have.
We can put you on the throne
without anyone ever suspecting!
But if you miss this chance,
never mind in this life,
in even the next life you will never have the throne!
Now, perhaps, I am useless.
But I am only worried for you two.
If neither of you find this a problem...
why should I continue worrying?
-Bring guards! -No, no, no!
Premier...
please try to think about this, will you?
Zhao Gao is absolutely right.
You need to think about this, all right?
My brother has been dissatisfied with you for a long time.
Did you forget…
how he opposed the burning of books?
Did you forget?
When your son Li You was elected Sanshan Prefecture Chief,
General Meng Tian protested loudly.
The emperor delayed his appointment.
Meng Tian told the emperor that your family had too much power
that you should not control the army, too.
But I’m different!
When I become emperor,
I’ll listen to you in all things!
I’ll give you more power! I’ll give you more trust and respect!
I’ll respect you as I respected my father!
I don’t want to lose this chance!
I know that this goes against my father,
and against my brother.
But I-- I-- I--
I want to be the emperor! I mean,
I dream of being an emperor!
I want this so much.
My prince, my prince, don’t be taken by anguish.
Li Si, what are you thinking?
Can’t you understand something as simple as this?
Does the prince have to beg you for it?
This isn’t simple.
If we forge a new edict,
will Fusu believe us?
Once he learns that the emperor passed away,
he will come straight back!
Along with Meng Tian’s army.
And when he does,
there’s no way to know what they might do!
And that’s why we can’t let anyone know the truth!
We must hide it until Fusu is finally dead.
Then we can tell the world.
Hide? Can we hide it?
The emperor is still a man,
and his corpse will become putrid soon!
Can-- Can we hide the smell?
Well, don’t worry about that, Premier.
You know very well what I’m capable of, yes?
That’s right, my prince,
Li Si has agreed to help you.
You need to bow and thank him for this favor!
Thank you, Premier!
Premier, Premier, Premier,
we heard the emperor saw you last night.
How is he now?
He’s fine.
What did he tell you?
There will be an edict soon.
Wait for the edict.
Just now,
the emperor ate a plate of steamed camel hump,
baby pigeon soup, and half a fried cake.
Our emperor has a great appetite!
Long live the emperor!
Premier,
the emperor has questions for you about the edict.
Premier, come inside, His Grace is waiting.
Do you think something happened?
-What happened? -What happened?
What are you trying to do here?
Why are you involving me?
Premier, I’ve decided.
This edict should be written by you and you alone.
Why is that? Why can’t you write it yourself?
But this is of great importance.
Only your handwriting will convince Fusu.
And he will obey and kill himself.
Your seal stroke writing is impossible to copy. It is unique.
Begin.
By Heaven’s will and my decree…
Why do we have to wait for so long?
Will the emperor promulgate a decree?
Ministers, I have the royal edict...
for Crown Prince Fusu and General Meng Tian.
Send it to them at top speed.
Prince Huhai, he has orders for you.
I pledge obedience.
His Grace said,
he has a great appetite recently. He wants abalone.
He wants Huhai to bring it.
Yes.
Good.
Having all the men...
drink just water won't do it in the long run.
One of these days, we’ll starve to death with just water.
I’m afraid...
that if I fall asleep and close my eyes, I won’t be able to open them the next day.
Do you... Do you think we’ll die here?
Everyone dies.
But this is no place for us to die.
I think that might be exactly what would happen.
Shut up. I don’t want to hear talk like that.
I know I’m going to make it.
But I...
don’t want to die.
We won’t die here. I won’t let you.
What we need now...
is to find food.
We haven’t eaten anything for days!
We’re starving to death!
All right, guys...
are you hungry?
Yes!
So what now? We have to steal food!
So now, these fellows here are going down to steal food.
And now, we’re going to make a new rule.
We only rob the families that have porcelain tiles on their roofs.
Rich families won’t starve. But we can’t steal from grass huts.
It wouldn’t even work! They don’t have food.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
-That’s right. -And also...
only take food. Do not hurt them, and do not kill them.
And if you do, what then?
-Pay with your life! -Should you pay with your life?
Right!
Right! If you take a life, you'll lose your own.
Now my friends, why should you lose it?
We are escaped criminals.
If we only take food, the officials won’t care.
But if we are murder suspects, the government will follow up,
and every one of us could suffer!
Subtitle translation by Chia-Chin Wu